As in days of yore, you can find him at 2016 W. Farmington Road in West Peoria. Atop a wall inside Kenny’s Westside Pub, a drawing of Shelton stands as a simple reminder of his infamy here.

During the ‘40s heyday of the Shelton Gang, Bernie Shelton owned the squat bar, then known as the Parkway Tavern. He was the muscle of the gambling-centric gang, run by brother Carl Shelton.

But by 1947, Carl Shelton had quit the rackets, retiring to the family farm in southern Illinois. There, he was gunned down Oct. 23, 1947.

Bernie Shelton still held court at his tavern. On the morning of July 26, 1948, he stepped outside and heard a lone rifle crack from the bluff behind the tap. Shelton died not long afterward.

The Parkway continued on, changing names in modern times and becoming Kenny’s in 2013. Despite an interior rehab, the staff reports a holdover manifestation: lights flicker, things move — allegedly the handiwork of Bernie Shelton’s unsettled ghost.

Journal Star staff

5 Comments

the day he was shot I was on the way to Bradley u. the police were there I found out later of the shoting. this drawing is the first one of these that I did not know about. I knew of the the shoting I knew of the bar but not the picture.

My father owned the original Paradice in E. Peoria, Illinois. It was a tavern across the Robert Michel Bridge. The tavern was torn down for the bridge to be built. The Shelton gang were my father’s partner’s in the 40’s. I’m in the process of writing a book about their involvemnt with my father. This is an era that will never be forgotten. My fahter’s name was Joe Rafool. You can go to my timeline on face book and it has a picture of the paradice on it ans the dice
Barb Rafool Patterson

FYI: As kids my brother and I used to play on the Shelton Farm that fronted on Farmington Rd. The property backed up to Eisele Rd.,named after my grandParents. We stayed at their house inthe summer and have fond memories of chasing the horses and fishing in the pond until

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